


Mindreader

by deniallisstrong



Series: Ziam Tumblr Drabbles (ifigureditout) [21]
Category: One Direction (Band), Zayn Malik (Musician)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Fluff, M/M, Mind Reading
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-04
Updated: 2017-08-04
Packaged: 2018-12-11 06:05:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11708361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deniallisstrong/pseuds/deniallisstrong
Summary: “Having troubles figuring out what to get?” The barista asked with a knowing look.Liam nodded slowly, feeling more and more lethargic by the moment. Sheepishly, he replied, “Yeah, a bit. What do you recommend?”Liam wasn’t asking because of the barista’s ridiculously long eyelashes that fanned out over his way-too-sharp-to-be-real cheekbones. Or because of the wide, intrigued amber eyes looking up at him. Or even–okay. Well, he wasn’t only asking because of those things. At least, that’s what he told himself.The barista hummed, licking his lips as he thought. “Want me to do a mindreader on you?”Liam gulped, not sure if he had heard correctly. (The boy licking his lips certainly didn’t help to keep his train of thought intact.) “Err–alright?”(Or, a coffee shop AU where Liam embarrasses himself in front of the cutest barista he's ever seen) (Based on my experience--because I’m the idiot who always does stupid things that end up being perfect for story ideas)





	Mindreader

Liam needed caffeine. He couldn’t help it–two hours of sleep would do that to a guy.

Even so, his feet seemed to know this better than his head, because they turned into the nearest coffee shop he could find before he even consciously realized what he was doing.

When he found himself inside, he blinked, surprised at his unusual surroundings. It wasn’t the normal coffee shop set-up: the decor was homey, cabin-like almost, and the whole place gave off a sort of hippie vibe that Liam wasn’t used to in New York. Portland, maybe, but not here.

Glancing up at the menu, he found he was face-to-face with all sorts of odd concoctions that he’d never heard of before: names ranging from the sweet and simple Southern Belle to the worrying-sounding Pretentious Arse.

Seeing he was struggling, the barista in front of him coughed, giving him a small smile when he saw Liam almost jump at the noise. “Having troubles figuring out what to get?” He asked with a knowing look.

Liam nodded slowly, feeling more and more lethargic by the moment. Sheepishly, he replied, “Yeah, a bit. What do you recommend?”

Liam wasn’t asking because of the barista’s ridiculously long eyelashes that fanned out over his way-too-sharp-to-be-real cheekbones. Or because of the wide, intrigued amber eyes looking up at him. Or even–okay. Well, he wasn’t  _only_  asking because of those things. At least, that’s what he told himself.

The barista hummed, licking his lips as he thought. “Want me to do a mindreader on you?”

Liam gulped, not sure if he had heard correctly. (The boy licking his lips certainly didn’t help to keep his train of thought intact.) “Err–alright?”

“Okay, what’s your favorite kind of dessert?”

Liam averted his gaze as he thought about this for a moment. Uneasily deciding on homemade chocolate chip cookies, he looked back up to the boy, finding him looking amused. “Okay, got it?” The boy questioned patiently, and upon Liam’s confused errs and umms, he continued easily, “I know it can be a bit hard to choose.”

Liam wasn’t sure what to say: was he supposed to tell the boy his answer? Or was he reading his mind to figure out what Liam’s answer would be? After all, he had called what he was doing a ‘mindreader’, right?

Liam could feel his breath lodging in his throat, his cheeks burning as he tried to figure out what the correct thing to do was so that he wouldn’t look like a  _complete_  idiot.

After a moment more of silence, the boy gave him a look. “You have to tell me, you know.” He smirked at him. “Or I can’t guess your drink.”

Liam groaned, his cheeks only reddening more at this statement. Stumbling through his answer and a few more, the barista thoughtfully looked him over.

“I’m sorry,” Liam fretted at the end, his eyes falling to his fidgeting hands.

“Don’t worry.” The barista squinted at him just slightly. “Liam.”

Liam started at this. How had he known his name? Had he already given it and promptly forgotten? God, he really just needed to sleep for at least four more hours before he’d be at least back to a semblance of a human being.

“I didn’t read your mind, promise,” The man smiled, already figuring out where Liam’s thoughts had gone. “It’s on your shirt.” He paused. “Though it kind of looks like Wail.”

Eyes quickly darting down to his outfit, he saw he was right. Not only was he still wearing his name tag from work, but it was also–well–upside down. Liam let out a huff.

“You know what?” The barista laughed, shaking his head lightly. “I’m going to up the number of shots in this thing. You could use it.”

“Thanks, mate,” Liam breathed. “Just got a new pup,” he explained as he nervously rubbed the back of his neck. “He hasn’t quite learned when it’s appropriate to bark or whine yet.”

“Let me guess, he decides every few minutes is the right time, then?” The other boy grinned, rolling his eyes endearingly.

“You know, I think you really  _could_  be a mind reader if you wanted.”

The boy nodded at this, looking down at Liam’s cup in his hand to write something before he admitted, “Only for the cute ones.” Giving Liam a wink, he waved him away so he could make his drink.

Too stunned to do anything else, Liam followed his directions, shifting back and forth on his feet as he waited behind the other side of the counter for his drink. He felt like there was something he should do in return, something to show that he really did return his fancy. But his sleep-deprived mind came up completely blank. Though should he  _really_  be surprised? He couldn’t even get his name tag on right. How the hell was he supposed to flirt with a super hot barista?

Still thinking about what he could possibly do, he sighed, giving up when he heard his name being called.

“Leeyummm,” the barista said quietly, standing right in front of him with his drink and a fond smile. 

Passing over the cup to him, he waited for Liam to take a sip of it to make sure that he’d picked the right flavor for Liam. “Some sort of pie…” he guessed, sounding unsure as he took another small sip. “With vanilla or something, maybe?”

The barista hummed happily. “The Southern Belle. With pecan pie and notes of french vanilla.” He shrugged. “You said you wanted something homey and that just seemed… I don’t know, right?” He bit his lip uneasily. “Do you like it?”

Liam beamed. “It’s perfect. Just what I needed today.”

Suddenly noticing unusual writing scrawled on the side, he took his attention away from the barista for a moment so he could inspect the cup further.

_If I’m doing this whole mindreading thing right, I have a feeling you might want this. -Z_  

Scribbled below was a phone number. Upon seeing this, Liam’s heart skipped a beat.

“Zayn, my name is Zayn,” the other boy said softly. “For, you know, your phone. If you want.”

Liam felt his lips upturning before he could stop them. “Thanks… Zayn.” Glancing up again, he gave him a thankful nod as he tried out the name on his lips. “And I do want it,” he clarified as he cleared his throat. “Though I need a bit more sleep before I can do anything else.”

“I don’t work tomorrow, if that helps,” Zayn hinted with a raise of his eyebrows.

Grinning, Liam assured, “It does.” He took another sip of his drink before he continued, “I’ll call you tomorrow to see what you’re up to.”

“And maybe I’ll already know the call is coming before you even pick up the phone,” Zayn teased, pressing his finger to the side of his head with a smile.


End file.
